Serious-Minded About Jesus

Preparing for Action

1 Peter 1:13 ESV

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 

We must be serious-minded about our faith in Jesus Christ and not take God, his grace, his salvation, his forgiveness, his commands, his warnings, his patience, and his promises for granted. We should not take lightly the word of God and the gospel of our salvation.

The way in which we prepare our minds for action is by being proactive and having a plan and moral disciplines in place in our lives so that we don’t trip and fall. We know our weaknesses, and so does the devil, and he will tempt us in our areas of weakness, so we need to have the armor of God on.

Thus, we don’t leave “loose ends” that “tempt fate.” In other words, we can’t be sloppy about our walks of faith if we want to live victorious lives over sin. We can’t leave doors open for us to walk right back into sin. We have to put up guards. We must have disciplines. Or we will fail.

For, to set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ, it is not to continue living in sin while claiming heaven as our eternal destiny. It is to walk according to the Spirit so that we don’t fulfill the passions of the flesh (Gal 5:16-21; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9).

As Obedient Children

1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” 

So many people today are teaching a cheapened version of God’s grace so as to grant the “believer” free license to continue living in sin without guilt, and without remorse, and with no requirements to repent, to obey Christ, and to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ.

They alter and they twist the Scriptures to their advantage to try to prove that God’s word supports their assertions that we can be saved from our sins, be bound for heaven, and yet we don’t have to change our lifestyles or submit to the Lordship of Christ. But this is so obviously contrary to the bulk of the teachings on salvation and the Christian life in Scripture.

All throughout the New Testament we are instructed that we must obey our Lord, we must repent of our sins, and we must surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, not just as part of our Christian growth, but also for salvation from sin and for eternal life with God (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9).

God’s grace to us is not free license to continue living in sin. His grace, which brings salvation, instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return (Tit 2:11-14).

So, if we want to be saved from our sins and to be in relationship with our Lord and to have eternal life with God, we must die with Christ to sin and live to Christ and to his righteousness. And we must not walk according to the flesh, fulfilling its lusts (Gal 5:16-24; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8).

For, we are called to be holy in all our conduct, and to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are now being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. We are not to immerse ourselves in our culture but in Christ and his holiness.

With the Blood of Christ

1 Peter 1:17- ESV

“And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

When Jesus Christ died on that cross, he who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of Christ. With his blood he bought us back for God that we might now honor God with our lives. For, he died that we would no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us (1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15, 21; Eph 4:17-24).

Therefore, we are to conduct our lives here on this earth in the fear (awe, honor, respect, and reverence) of God, in obedience to his commands. For, Jesus delivered us from our slavery to sin, and he freed us to now walk in his holiness and righteousness, empowered by God’s Spirit (Rom 6:1-23).

And we are to do this with the knowledge and with the understanding that God is going to judge us all according to our deeds. For, if we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we reap decay and death, but if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we have eternal life (1 Pet 1:17; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 6:7-8; 2 Co 5:10; 1 Co 6:9-10; Gal 5:16-24; Eph 5:3-6).

We must walk according to the Spirit of God and not according to the flesh, and we must deny self, daily die to sin, and be walking in obedience to our Lord if we want to inherit eternal life with God. For, we are slaves of the one we obey. If sin, it ends in death. If obedience, it leads to eternal life with God (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6).

Jesus is God

1 Peter 1:20-21 ESV

“He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

Jesus Christ was with God in the beginning and he is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. He who does not believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, does not believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he does not have eternal life with God.

Jesus Christ left his throne in heaven, came to earth, took on human flesh, lived as both God and man, and was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin. The reason he came was so he could be our perfect sacrifice to take away the sins of the world.

So, the only way to freedom from sin and eternal life with God is through faith in Jesus Christ, which is a gift from God, and which is divine persuasion as to the will of God, so that through faith in Jesus we submit to him as Lord, we leave our lives of sin behind us, and we now follow him in obedience.

We can’t do this on our own in our own flesh, though. We need God to save us. So, he provided the way for us to be saved from our sins, by faith in him, which includes repentance, obedience, and submission. But he will empower us, and he will strengthen us, and he will give us all we need to live godly and holy lives if we will surrender our lives to him.

God is With Us

An Original Work / June 11, 2019

Based off Psalm 46

God’s our refuge. He is our strength,

A present help to us when in pain.

Therefore, we will not be afraid,

Although the earth beneath us gives way.

Though the mountains be moved to the sea,

Roaring waters abound so free,

And the mountains now tremble so,

We will not fear, God is near, we know.

God is with us and He makes glad

The hearts of all who to Christ have fled.

Christ is in us, so we’ll not fall

When on our Savior our hearts do call.

God will help us, as mornings arise,

To be faithful to His design.

Nations raging, and tempers flare.

Our God is with us. We know He cares.

Come and see the works of the Lord.

He’s armed for battle with His great sword.

He’s the Word, and He is the Life.

He gives us strength in all of our strife.

Be still and know that He is our God.

He’s exalted where’er He trods.

The Lord Almighty, with us still;

The God of Jacob, our citadel. 

https://vimeo.com/341717561